Jackson, Leahy, Smith, Ryan named policymakers of year

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Sen. Patrick Leahy and Reps. Lamar Smith and Paul Ryan will be honored as policymakers of the year at POLITICO and POLITICO Pro’s Policy + Politics Conference and Awards Dinner on Dec. 6.

The four policymakers were among hundreds nominated by readers; final selections were made by senior leaders from POLITICO and POLITICO Pro.

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Jackson is the policymaker of the year in energy. The EPA chief has been a forceful advocate on environmental issues and has held the line against intense Republican attacks on her agency.

Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, and Smith, a Texas Republican, are the policymakers of the year in technology. The lawmakers' America Invents Act became the only major piece of tech legislation signed into law in 2011 — a rare instance in which a bipartisan effort bore fruit.

Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee and the policymaker of the year in health care, changed the debate on entitlement spending with the budget plan he released in April — giving Republicans a clear alternative to the Democratic vision laid out in the health care reform law the president signed in 2010.

The awards will be given at the Policymaker of the Year dinner at the Mandarin Hotel, where senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett will participate in a keynote conversation with POLITICO’s Mike Allen.